Stay at Sidney James March 22-25, 2008
Worth the money, worth the stay, worth the trip
Staff very friendly and accomedating, just what you expect from Southern hospitality.
It is just off the main strip but well in walking distance.
Quiet place, nice atmosphere
Very Nice Rooms, especially the ones with the balcony's
It offers a lot that most don't at the price
Highly recommend

When I called to make the reservation the lady was very nice on the phone. When we got there it was hard to park there was not enough parking. The young man at the desk was very nice. The room was very old and outdated, paint peeling of the walls, the carpet was blue and old and the tlle when you came into the room was broken. There was not a lock on the the door other then the dead bolt. The bacalony was ok the air conditioner cover had fallen off, but the heat worked very well as it was cold, you had look straight down to see what they said would be a wonderful creekside view. The only good thing that I can say about the hotel was that the people were ok and that food at the cafe was pretty good. The hotel would be nice if they made some up dates to there rooms. I would not recommend this hotel, there are much better hotels in Gatlinburg that are closer to the parkway.

I've stayed at this hotel twice. The first time, I was with a buddy and we were drunk the whole time (Spring Break), so it wasn't so bad. The only thing I remembered on my first stay was that I walked in with my friend behind me and saw only one bed. I quickly backed out of the room and got a new room with two beds. I like my friend, but not that much.

The pool was fun, because it has a fake tunnel/mountain motif. Big deal. I did notice it was possible to jump from the second balcony into the pool, I just never got the guts or drunk enough to do it.

I think because of the great weather and the good times I had, I decided to stay there again with my girlfriend...sober.

I didn't really have too much of a complaint about the room. I don't expect much from rooms, just a place to rest between activities. It was dingy. Our "stream" was a ditch, but I already knew this.

My brother and I went to the pool and had a decent time in the murky pool. That is until my brother pointed at my chest and said, "What is that!?!" Looking down, I saw what could have been a mop string or a tampon. I'll go with a mop string so I won't be traumatized. The water was so murky you couldn't see the bottom. I probably could've spotted the object if the water were clearer. So for all the people excited about the pool, don't be!

The management was my next complaint. I realize these guys are getting a plethora of different people and have built up a bad attitude. The only thing I want is a key and a place to voice my concerns if I have any. It was because of the Sidney James that I realized that most hotels in the "tourist trap" portion of Gatlinburg realize that even if you didn't like your stay, there will be another unsuspecting guest tomorrow. They got your money tonight.

My situation involved a group of twenty year olds outside the room with what I thought were paint guns. It turned out to be those yellow nurf pellet guns they sell in town at every other store, however I thought these guys were playing Commando with paint guns and shooting at the rooms. I called management and told them they might want to ask these people to stop shooting around the hotel.

The reply I received was, "Frankly sir, I don't care." This statement carried a sarcastic-laced tone that made me look like the bad guy for trying to save the walls and windows of the hotel.

That's the whole point. They don't care. They know people will still come.

We have been going to family reunions in Gatlinburg for around ten years now. We also have a the park next to Sidney James, so we would make reservations for the entire family at the former Ledwell Hotel (the courtyard motel across the road from Sidney James). For about eight years we tolerated the stay at Ledwell, because the management was so friendly and the convienvce to the park. However, the first year that Ledwell was taken over by Sidney James our stay was a nightmare. We have made reservations online a couple of months in advance. Check in time was at 2:00 p.m., we arrived around 3:30. We were not greeted upon arrival and were given a key to the small courtyard motel across the street. We drove to our room to find that the maids had not yet cleaned it. We drove back across the street to see if we could possibly have the exact same type room beside our room -seeing as it had been cleaned. They told us no, we would have to wait for our room to be cleaned. So, we drove back over and waited an additional 30 minutes - in a fairly good mood (we were ready to see our family). We finally got into our ordinary out-dated room, threw our things down and went to find everyone. As the night progressed I kept finding myself getting annoyed about the way the hotel handled our situation earlier in the day, but I decided to sleep on it. As we went to lay down, we turned our televison on the find that all of the stations were filled with static. Still I decided to just wait until morning. So next morning I decide to talk to hotel management, seeking only an apology for unpleasant experience from the day before and the television to be fixed. I go in the office on my own (I am a women, 23 years old and was currently six months pregnant). I ask for the manager, to find out it was the same person who had checked us in prior and told him of the situation (the room not being cleaned on time, the televison, etc.), keeping calm, as I know working in customer service this is the correct way to handle bad service. He told me that I had not right to say his people didn't do their job (which I did not say), and that I could not understand how hard his job was because I was too young. Being pregnant, of course I got emotional and started quietly crying, I asked a final time if we would be able to fix the television at least or apologize for his unprofessional attitude (my family was there and I really didn't want of leave). He told me no. I then asked for a refund of the next two nights stay, which he did approve, along the comment "Good luck on finding another place to stay." Regardless to say we found another place within a half an hour (the Greystone - their service was great and our room was even nicer for the same amount of money). I love Gatlinburg, but can honestly say the I hate Sidney James.